Carly Simon is like my second mum, says ex-Mandeville pupil who has cracked America – and even Bill Clinton knows his name!

Hayley O'Keeffe

A former Mandeville schoolboy is rubbing shoulders with the likes of Bill Clinton, Sting, Carly Simon and Ray Davies, after becoming a successful songwriter stateside.

David Saw swapped nights out in his favourite pub The Broad Leys for nights out with the stars when he moved to America in 2006.

Upcoming singer songwriter David Saw PNL-150130-165118001

The 40 year old has been playing music since he was twelve years old, bunking off school to hang around in music shops and try out the guitars, unbeknown to his parents Pam and Paul.

As he got older the hobby became a career and the aspiring star began touring with his Motown covers band Some Like It Hot, and as a session guitarist in the UK.

But it was a chance meeting with Ben Taylor, the son of music legends James Taylor and Carly Simon that landed him his big break.

David said: “He asked me to come and work with him on his new album, the next thing I knew I was on a plane to Martha’s Vineyard where I met his mum Carly.

“After a few days of being there Carly asked me if it would be OK to record one of my songs on her new album.

“Of course I said yes, I was blown away, me and Ben became friends and they asked me to stay and work and live there.

“I didn’t take much convincing as Martha’s Vineyard is the most stunning place on earth, and Carly’s house is like Rivendell out of Lord of the Rings, so basically I moved to Carly’s and Ben had his own house on the property two minutes down the road.”

It wasn’t long before Carly introduced David to some of her famous pals, including former US president Bill Clinton, and Aerosmith frontman Stephen Tyler.

On meeting Clinton David said: “I have met him many times but the first was at his birthday party where he asked Carly to sing, she asked me to play guitar for her and we played a song that we had written for him.

“Afterwards I was introduced to Bill and Hilary and they thanked me for playing.

“The amazing thing for me was six months later I played a fundraiser for Hilary. Bill was on stage doing a speech and I was stood at the side of the stage.

“As he came off stage he walked over to me and said ‘hey David, how are you? Thanks so much for coming.’ That really blew my mind as this guy meets so many people all the time and he remembered me.”

And while living with his ‘second mum’ Carly, David, whose real parents and brothers Peter and Paul still live in Aylesbury, saw his career as a songwriter really take off.

He said: “I ended up getting a record deal and a publishing deal and toured all over the world.

“I just moved to LA three months ago and have been working with Natasha Bedingfield and Carly Ray Jenson, writing for their new albums.”

He added: “My musical heroes are James Taylor who I was lucky enough to play with, and I love Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens and Stevie Wonder.

“I just set up a studio in LA and I want to keep working with top artists, my dream is to win a Grammy. Maybe next year...”

But his most magical moment so far came courtesy of Sting, who he met and played with at a party hosted by the Rothschilds.

He said: “At the end of the night I was talking to Sting and he asked me if we could play some songs around the fire pit.

“So everyone gathers around the fire pit and he looks at me and says ‘do you know this one?’

“He then went straight into Every Breath You Take, so now I am playing Every Breath You Take with Sting around a fire pit.

“That’s when I pinched myself and thought to myself, I’m just David from Aylesbury, how is this happening.”

David has worked with stars including John Forte of the Fugees, Jacob Banks, Sam Palladio and Aura Dione and it seems that the sky really is the limit.

He recently worked with Kimbra on her hit Somebody That I Used To Know, and Hope, which he co-wrote with Natasha Bedingfield is out now.

The single is forming part of an advertising campaign for Philosophy cosmetics, and a portion of the money from all singles sold will go to support women battling mental illness and depression.

Trending

Lady Diana’s bicycle fetches £9k at auction in Thame

Thame’s popular kebab van owner Resul bids to retain top title at awards

Nigerian businessman sentenced for his part in £1.28m Lincolnshire NHS trust fraud

Experts issue warning over Christmas fatbergs and how to avoid them

VIDEO: Top LA directors create new campaign to show dangers of driving with a mobile phone